The Washington State Cougars (8-10, 3-2 WCC) had to deal with a plentiful amount of turnover this past offseason, losing the likes of senior guard Nate Calmese (Wake Forest Demon Deacons), redshirt junior forward LeJuan Watts (Texas Tech Red Raiders), and junior guard Isaiah Watts (Maryland Terrapins). Even with Cedric Coward, who now plays for the Memphis Grizzlies.
This season’s group from Pullman has had its downs. That included a rough experience at the Maui Invitational (only beat the host Chaminade Silverswords at the opening round in Hawaii), followed by three straight losses at the Bradley Braves, vs. Nevada Wolfpack, and at the USC Trojans.
Heading over to West Coast Conference play, the Cougars need to go through a bumpy stretch of back-to-back-to-back competition. They lost at home to the Saint Mary’s Gaels (88-82) this past Saturday, Jan. 10, got the upcoming bout with the No. 9 Gonzaga Bulldogs (17-1, 5-0 WCC), and then head down to the Bay Area to take on the San Francisco Dons on Saturday, Jan. 18.
Washington State junior forward Rihards Vavers knows a thing or two about a crazy travel schedule, as he hails from Adazi, Latvia. The Slipper Still Fits chatted with him before the matchup with the Zags and asked him who some of his favorite Latvian basketball inspirations.
“The obvious one would be Kristaps Porzingis. I grew up watching him. The Bertans brothers. Arthur Jagas, he’s a point guard playing in the EuroLeague. There’s a lot of good people now coming out of Latvia. It’s been cool to see everybody grow and expand their game.”
Starting out his collegiate career with the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference’s Quinnipiac Bobcats in Hamden, Connecticut, Vavers has always been a top-shelf shooter, shooting 39.5 percent from beyond the arc through his 57 career games played.
Last season with the Cougars, Vavers didn’t get to show all that he’s capable of, dealing with significant injuries. He only played 17 games in 2024-25 as he had suffered broken bones in both hands.
In 2025-26, the 6-7, 210-pound product is scoring 9.4 points per game on a shooting split of 42.5 field goal percentage/37.8 three-point percentage/82.4 free throw percentage to go along with 3.2 rebounds per game. Vavers has started five of the 17 games that he’s played this season.
Since coming to Pullman, coach David Riley’s coaching style has helped open up Vavers’ game.
“He just see the confidence in me. He just sees how great of a shooter I am and my teammates do as well. They find me, they believe in me. Once I got my team behind my back, I just come out every night and attack the basket, read the game. Riley’s confidence and all the coaching staff’s confidence in me has really been helping me.”
One teammate that Vavers has all the confidence in the world is true freshman Ace Glass. The skilled guard has made an immediate impact in Washington State’s backcourt, averaging a team-leading 15.9 points on a shooting split of 47.5 field goal percentage/35.6 three-point percentage/87.5 free throw percentage.
“It’s crazy that he’s a freshman. He’s learning every day. He still asks a lot of questions. Even though he’s one of our best players, he’s still curious about every single thing going on the court. He’s just trying to get that experience… He sees the game differently. He’s a scorer. He’s learning how to play defense… It’s just been amazing to see him grow ever since we got here, since the summer and up until now… I’m so happy for him. And he has so much potential.”
The first meeting between the Zags and the Cougars dates all the way back to 1907. Washington State leads the all-time series over Gonzaga, 98-54. Although the Zags have won the last seven meetings.
Vavers is aware of how much this Eastern Washington rivalry being back means to the state, and as the two programs transition into the revamped Pac-12 Conference.
“It’s great playing guys like from Gonzaga and just getting after it. We get like two – maybe three opportunities, including the tournament, to play against them. So going up against the best of the best to challenge you and just to see what you’ve been working on all year. It’s just a great matchup to play against a top ten team. I feel like we’ve been preparing and growing up ever since the season started.”
The Beasley Coliseum in the Palouse fits over 12,000 fans. The arena will bring together some of the finest college basketball fans from all over the surrounding area, and Vavers is expecting a deafening environment.
“Students are finally back on campus. Last year was crazy. Hope this year is going to be amazing too. It’s going to be a good game and can’t wait to see everybody out there.”
The matchup between the two Pacific Northwest universities tips off on Thursday, Jan. 15, at 7:00 p.m. PT on the CBS Sports Network.
Get off to an early start, close even stronger
This has been a continuous issue for Gonzaga when it comes to high energy from the get-go, recently against the Seattle U RedHawks and Santa Clara Broncos at the McCarthey Athletic Center. The same goes for giving up a large lead and slacking off in the second half at the Jenny Craig Pavilion against the San Diego Toreros.
Defend the ball screen, jump into passing lanes
Amongst the rest of the West Coast Conference programs, the Cougars struggle with taking care of and sharing the ball. Washington State ranks No. 11 with 13.5 turnovers per game and last at No. 12 with 12.4 assists per game.
The struggles at the charity stripe, as of late, continue for coach Mark Few’s unit. The Zags rank No. 9 out of 12 teams in the West Coast Conference in that category at 70.0 percent.
According to FanDuel Sportsbook, Gonzaga is the favorite over Washington State by a massive 17.5 points. Moneyline for the Zags is at -2800, +1160 for the Cougars. The over/under is set at 157.5.
Gonzaga is currently riding a ten-game winning streak and is on the No. 2/No. 3 seed line for the NCAA Tournament.
Arden Cravalho is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area… Follow him on X @a_cravalho
